take what you want from me

[resipiscent]

WHO: riku etc
WHERE: all over!
WHEN: may
WHAT: catchall for riku this month! general starters behind the cut and specific ones in comments, but feel free to make your own, too. if you think you'd like to thread out multiple things, feel free to put a catch-all for your character, too. hit me up at guriido_ if you'd like to plot!
WARNINGS: none as of yet!

1

[It's warm again, and that means swimming in the pool. Their house in Heropa has one in the backyard, and though at first Riku wasn't sure what to do with it, he'd decided to take care of it and actually use it. Through the winter, though it wasn't cold, he wouldn't consider it swimming-outside weather, either. So until recently, it had sat unused, dead leaves collecting on the cover. Today he's taken it upon himself to clean it off and get the thing running again.

Naturally, this means the pool itself can't be used for another little while. It's had a shock treatment, and though he'd like to replace the cover, so the animals won't jump in, he can't, in interest of the treatment working properly. Instead, he's just put the pigs in their house and the dog in the house. In the meantime, the vacuum is sitting dry at the edge of the pool, waiting for its turn. Riku himself is at the pool's edge too, doing some water tests. He looks like he's deep in thought.]

2

[With the way things are lately, Riku's felt a little inadequate. Not in his fighting skills but in his knowledge and awareness of the way this place works. A lot of things are similar to home, but a lot of things aren't -- especially regarding law and the way different regions interact with each other. It's along this train of thought that he's gone to the library. He does a lot of things just online -- it's easy to just hang out at home and click around the internet, especially in the middle of the night -- but he likes the library. It's enjoyable, in a way he can't really put a word to.

Today he's sitting at a table with a mess of books in front of him, a few tall stacks as well as a less organized pile in the middle. Some of them have bookmarks sticking out of them, and some of them are lying open, held that way by other books. The boy himself is almost hidden behind the taller of the towers, which is kind of impressive. The subjects of the books range from ones on actual laws to ones on traditions, and there are some books about the history of the country as well. He's poring over one right now that appears to be a description of locally available foods.]

3

[Riku goes to the Nonah Training Facility quite a lot. Not always to swim, though he does that quite frequently, too. Today he's working on hand to hand combat. Generally, he would use the Keyblade, or a similar one-handed weapon, but he doesn't like the idea of nullifiers, either. So he's been studying various forms of bare-handed combat. There are classes you can take, he's aware, but he feels like he'd rather do it on his own. This way, he can mix between different styles, too, without feeling like he's cheating or supposed to stick to one thing.

For Riku, the easiest thing is to simply use a punching bag. He doesn't necessarily like to bother somebody by dragging them over here, and this way, he doesn't have to wait for anyone, either. He can just go whenever he feels like it. There are a few hanging heavy bags, but he's using one on a stand. It's a little lighter than a traditional one and snaps back quickly when he hits it, and so he's able to work on timing out hits as well as specific moves.

He's working fairly hard and he's thinking about taking a break, but he's in the middle of counting out a set of moves, so he's decided to finish it before stopping. This particular set is twelve hits long, but that goes by pretty quick, especially when you're halfway there already.]

... ten, eleven, twelve.

[Riku stops, steps away, his bare feet quiet on the mat. That's enough for now.]

4 - wildcard

Comments

tetsuo, may 12

[resipiscent]

[Looking back on it, Riku feels like agreeing to this was probably a stupid idea.

But here he is, waiting on the roof of a run-down, abandoned building. He'd prefer to meet somewhere less full of broken glass and trash, but he also doesn't want to do this where a bunch of people are going to see them. Walking into an evil-looking portal is alarming enough when it's just you, but when you're bringing someone else with you, that's a whole another level of alarming.

He's already wearing his own coat -- he'd used a portal to get here in the first place. The other is half-folded, hanging over his forearm. He doesn't worry about opening a door quite yet -- he'll do that when Tetsuo arrives. For now he settles on the edge of the building, in a spot with the least amount of debris, his legs hanging from the edge. For now he's just going to play around on his phone.]

[iamtetsuo]

[Riku won't have long to wait. In a blur of red and white, Tetsuo shoots into view, hovering in the air for a moment before arcing down to gently land on the roof. He straightens up after a moment, milking the dramatic flair for all it's worth. He didn't take that long to get there, but Riku probably had to wait at least a little while. Tetsuo didn't bring his bike along this time.

THIS time. He's got ideas for this.]

Hey. You brought it?

[You can take the kid out of a gang, but you can't take the gang out of a kid. From the carefully disinterested way he asks that, there's no way he doesn't know how it comes across. Just like his entrance, that effect is nothing short of deliberate.]

[resipiscent]

[Riku tilts his head back just enough so that he can see Tetsuo over his shoulder, then looks back out over the city before replying.]

I wouldn't waste your time otherwise.

[He shifts his weight, getting back to his feet. He can tell Tetsuo's trying to be intimidating, perhaps, or dramatic, or both. He can knock himself out with that one. Riku's not really impressed by drama, not after Maleficent and the Xehanorts. So he just gets up, lifting the arm with the coat hanging from it.]

I don't know that it'll fit, but it'll work, which is the main thing.

[iamtetsuo]

[Tetsuo walks over to take it, frowning as he holds the cloak up. He's a short person, and this cloak is a little oversized.

He could probably wear it, and look most likely ridiculous in it.]

You sure you don't have anything...?

[He pauses. Don't make him say smaller.]

[resipiscent]

[Ah, right... He'd considered this earlier, but he hadn't really thought it'd be that big of a difference. It's not big enough to fit Riku as it is -- he has no frame of reference outside of that.]

No, but I can ask Kanaya if she'll fit it for you later.

[He might as well. A coat that'll fit Tetsuo will fit anybody around that height, right? Right.]

We can do this another time, if necessary.

kanaya, may 3

[resipiscent]

[Riku would disagree with you if you tried to call Kanaya Maryam 'delicate'. Maybe she might present that way, with her love of fashion and the fact that she's got a baby now. But he can't see her as anything but tough -- he's seen her fight, and she doesn't take anybody's shit, either. She's impressive. So sparring with her is a bit of a treat, really. He doesn't know whether he'd win against her -- but that's fine. The people around here are all pretty tough, so he won't be surprised when he finds someone who can beat him.

The easiest place to meet for sparring is either the training center or somebody's backyard, so it's the training center he arranges to meet at. It feels like it makes more sense -- Nonah is a little rainier than Heropa, and so even if the weather changes, like it looks like it might, they won't have to move. Riku isn't interested in fighting in a downpour if he doesn't have to.

He's simply sitting and waiting right now, messing around on a phone game. He'd showed up early, just out of a lack of something to do. But he still doesn't have anything to do and so he's relegated to waiting.]

sorry for how late this is!

[glowsferatu]

[ Kanaya arrives early as well, but not quite as early as Riku, carrying a basket in one hand, and her purse in the other. She's been keeping up her exercise as well as she can since hatching Ashiah, but it's been a while since she's had a good fight to help her practice.

Riku seems like the perfect opportunity. She's never really had the chance to see how he handles himself, and that's the sort of lesson she loves discovering in a spar. She sets the basket down and pulls Ashiah out of it to set her on the floor, then takes some tape out of her purse begins to wrap her hands. ]

I hope you don't mind that I brought an audience for us.

it's cool! : )

[resipiscent]

[Ah, the baby. Riku sets the comm down, shaking his head. He gets up to head over and crouch near Ashiah, reaching to stroke his thumb across the grub's head gently.]

Nah, not at all. Will she be okay waiting by herself?

[He props his elbows on his knees, tilting his head back to look up at her from there. Ashiah's pretty mobile, but she's still a baby, so he has no idea.]

[glowsferatu]

[ Ashiah chirps a greeting at him, nuzzling against his hand. She's always okay with getting more attention. ]

As long as she can keep herself entertained.

[ Kanaya takes a bag out of her purse to layout a small blanket of leaves. Ashiah takes to them quickly, nibbling on one or two, rolling over on the others. She seems pretty happy with them.

Kanaya tickles her belly, leaving her clicking and wriggling in protest. ] You just stay right here, alright?

[ Turning back to Riku: ] So, how do we want to start this?

[resipiscent]

Well, that's up to you.

[Riku gets up again, stretching his arms out in front of him.]

We decide what rules we want to play by, and go from there.

[It's not like they're aiming to kill each other -- in a real fight, that would be the way to determine who won. Sparring is different by necessity. But he's happy to let her choose, if she has an idea of how she wants to go about it.]

3

[23wishes]

Good job!

[Aerith's voice is coming from the doorway. She's got her staff with her for once, which she doesn't think Riku even knew about. Does he even know she can use magic? She'd only mentioned being a healer.

Oh well.

What better place to find out?]

Come here often?

[resipiscent]

I do, actually.

[Riku turns to face her, head tilting just a little.]

What about you? Are you gonna start hanging out, too?

[23wishes]

Maybe. But I'm not so sure what else it offers yet. I was thinking you could show me around.

[Riku can safely assume hand to hand combat isn't Aerith's area of expertise and be very very right.]

[resipiscent]

Ah, sure. I can do that.

[He moves to the bench at the wall, uses the elastic there to pull his hair back, then picks up his water bottle and heads over to join her.]

Have you checked anything out yet?

[23wishes]

Just the little bit I saw walking around. I was hoping I'd run into someone I knew.

[She pauses for a moment.]

I did see a pool, but I can't swim.

sora, may 16

[resipiscent]

[Living in a town like this, without any Heartless to fight and a more-or-less normal life to lead, most people might think you'd get complacent. But growing up, they'd always found time to spar. So it's easy to fall back into that rhythm of practicing at least once a day, whenever both of them have an hour or so free. It's a little different now than it was -- Keyblades and magic are on a whole another level than a couple of homemade wooden swords, but the atmosphere itself hasn't changed.

They've already gone one round and are moving onto the second. It's a quick break for water and a snack and then they're getting back up. Riku's got his Keyblade in his hand already, calling it as he gets up. He turns to face Sora, backing up a couple of steps to put a little distance between them, his mouth curved.]

Ready?

2

[circulets]

[ Mikleo oftentimes visits the library. Although Sorey isn't often seen far from him, this is one of the few times where he's split up from the other. He's taking the time to take advantage of all the information the library has stored, reading on the history of the world they've found themselves in, and any other information he can perhaps put to use.

It's when he spots that familiar silver-colored hair in the corner of his eyes that he turns. He approaches Riku, voice quiet. ]

Hello, Riku. Are you researching, too?

[resipiscent]

I am.

[He looks up from his book, setting it down in front of him. Somehow, the library suits Mikleo -- he looks like he's supposed to be here.]

Some of this I know already. But I feel like... I've been here for more than a year, but I don't really know a whole lot more about this place than I did when I arrived.

[Though partly it's because he's not from this world at all -- most of his friends are from some semblance of it, which puts him at a lesser level of knowledge by default.]

[circulets]

Your world was vastly different from this one, wasn't it? It only makes sense that you'd have far more to learn.

[ Mikleo, too. He feels like there's countless things he doesn't know -- still wants to know about. ]

[resipiscent]

Yeah. Like... a lot of the concepts are the same, but the rest of it is totally different.

[They have a lot of similar food, and the technology at home is almost on the same level as this. Some of the holidays are the same, and he speaks the same language as a lot of the other imPorts he's met. But then, everything else is just... sometimes he gets surprised with how strange things are.]

My homeworld is minuscule compared to this one.

[circulets]

I may be able to relate with you a little. I only knew my hometown for a long time. It was... different to find out that the world was far larger than I'd originally thought.

[ Being around so many humans for the first time - being in a human city - it was... overwhelming, to put it lightly. He still doesn't quite understand why humans need to live in such large cities... ]

Though, it's impressive that you've been able to settle in as well as you have if that's the case.

3, may 14th

[darkimitation]

[After the last match with his original, the Replica needed to get stronger. Though he had been coming to the training facility on his own since arriving, today he was not expecting to see Riku there. Of course this annoys him, despite the two of them living together. He storms over to the punching bag Riku is using (as that was the one he typically used) from behind him and speaks up in an annoyed tone of voice.]

Move it, Real Thing. It's my turn to use it.

[resipiscent]

[He turns in the Replica's direction, expression immediately set, his mouth a line.]

Have fun, then.

[He's just going to retreat to the bench along the wall, turning and plopping down heavily.

Don't mind him. He's just gonna watch.]

[darkimitation]

[He starts pounding away at the punching bag with both his fists and his legs, almost as wildly as his match against Riku. The determination and fury in his expression is evident with every punch and kick he performs. He's trying to push himself past his limits.]

[resipiscent]

[Riku's kind of just leaning forward enough that he can prop his elbow up on his knee, chin in his hand. It's clear the Replica's pissed -- which makes sense, but it's tiring. He doesn't speak, just takes a drink out of his bottle of water.]